The Greatest Man I Never Knew
by Awahili
Summary: Jubilee returns to the mansion for a special event after being gone for a few years, and says longneeded words to an old friend.


The song is Reba McEntire's "The Greatest Man I Never Knew."  Really beautiful song, and I was listening to it and thought it fit this kind of scenario.  I don't know how many fics out there have Jubes as a singer, but it was necessary for this fic and not really all that strange for her.  Nothing except the plot is mine.  And the age thing is for my friend Flyer, who is tired of seeing our firecracker "forever thirteen" as she puts it.

I'm really sorry if this bums anyone out for the holidays.  I'll try to post a humorous one tomorrow, with the whole X-Team _attempting_ to decorate the mansion.  It should be quite funny.  Happy Holidays!  -- Rickman's Girl (formerly known as Aztec, creator of _Movie Night_ and _Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself)._  Ahh…the joys of shameless plugging.

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Jubilee stood outside the mansion that had been her home for the better part of her life, and a single tear fell down her face.  A few years had passed since she left, and now she was back.  Her only wish was that it was under different circumstances.

She entered quietly with a few people trailing her.  These people had been her friends, her band-mates, after she left.  They had met in the mall, and hit it off.  They told her of the music band they were starting, and she jumped at the chance.  She loved music, all types, and she began to hang out with them instead of the team.  Well, she still hung out with the team, but more often than not, she was seen leaving the mansion in a convertible filled with teens and twenty-somethings.

Hey, she was almost nineteen, it wasn't abnormal, but a part of her regretted leaving all those times.  Once, she even blew off her best friend to practice a new set.  Her, blowing off the great Wolverine, it was unheard of!  He was certainly shocked, and perhaps a little hurt.  She tried to justify it, telling herself that he'd done it to her many times, but even after all these years, she still felt bad.  Especially now.

Mike and Jannah didn't even come into the kitchen with her, and the couple that did venture in quietly exited when Jubilee was accosted and embraced by no less than ten people.  Jean held on the longest, crying into the young girl's shoulder, and Jubilee discreetly handed her to Scott.

Once everyone had collected themselves, they ventured outside, where a large canopy was set up over a small patch of the garden.  Jubilee smiled, remembering all the impromptu sparring sessions she and Logan would have in that spot.  The rest of the band had returned to the trailer, and they were soon joined by the entire team and unloaded the equipment.  Jack, their manager, instructed them in proper set up, and soon, everyone had returned to the canopy.  Professor Xavier glided up to the front of the assembly and cleared his throat.

"Friends, many of us here today did not ever expect to see the day when the mighty Wolverine would be taken from us.  Now, one year later, we still remember and honor his memory.  One of our own, who fought valiantly and bravely to the end, died defending his family.  A few of you do not know Jubilee, as she left before you joined the team.  But those who did not meet her knew of her from Logan's stories and memories.  She was his daughter, his friend, his voice of reason in the later years.  And she has returned from her venturing today to be here with us.  Jubilee?"  The professor wheeled away and Jubilee, now a beautiful woman, stepped up.

"Most of you who do know me remember me as a firecracker; an indignant kid whose only thoughts were of rollerblading and practical joking.  I know some of you," she looked pointedly at Scott and Jean, "really didn't approve of my decision to join the band.  But Wolverine knew that my time had come.  He didn't say anything except goodbye, and that I had better write or he'd come hunt me down.  I never told him thanks for that.  I just hugged him and left.

"I didn't write, but I called a few times.  When we finally got a small deal, I was so excited, I called and talked for hours."  Many people smiled at the memory.  "I always wanted to do something for him.  He was my mentor, my best friend, my father, my protector, and I never once told him thank you.  So I wrote a song to try and convey what I could never tell him personally."  She walked over to her group, picked up the mike, and Jannah began plucking a soft melody out on the guitar.  Mike was following along on the keyboard, making the melody flow through the garden.  Soon after, Jubilee raised the mike and sang a melancholy tune.

_The greatest man I never knew, lived just down the hall._

_And everyday we said hello, but never touched at all._

_He was in his paper; I was in my room._

_How was I to know he thought I hung the moon?_

_The greatest man I never knew came home late every night._

_He never had too much to say, too much was on his mind._

_I never really knew him, and now it seems so sad;_

_Everything he gave to us took all he had._

_Then the days turned into years and the memories to black and white._

_He grew cold like an old winter wind blowing across my life._

_The greatest words I never heard I guess I'll never hear._

_The man I thought could never die s'been dead almost a year._

_He was good at business, but there was business left to do._

_He never said he loved me; guess he thought I knew."_

"I did know, and I'm sorry now that I never told him in return what he could never say out loud.  I love you, Wolvie, and I know you'll always be with us."


End file.
